ATLANTA (Interstat) — Bryce Elder continued his dominant start to the season with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, and the Atlanta Braves used a trio of home runs to power past the Miami Marlins 6-3 on Wednesday night at Truist Park.

The victory gave the National League East-leading Braves their fifth series win in six tries this season, taking two of three games from their division rivals. Atlanta improved to 12-7, while Miami fell to 9-10.

Elder, whose spot in the rotation was questioned by some entering the year, delivered another masterful performance. The right-hander scattered four hits, walked two and struck out seven, lowering his ERA to a microscopic 0.77 through his first four starts. He earned the win to move to 2-1.

The Braves’ offense provided all the support he would need with timely power. Ozzie Albies ignited the scoring in the second inning, launching a solo home run, his fourth of the year, to right-center field off Miami starter Chris Paddack. Later in the inning, Mauricio Dubón lined a single to left to score Mike Yastrzemski, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Paddack, who took the loss to fall to 0-3, exited with two outs in the fifth after allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out four.

The game’s most critical sequence came in the bottom of the seventh inning, which broke open a 3-2 contest. After Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a double, Drake Baldwin singled him home to extend the lead. Matt Olson then followed by crushing a two-run homer, his fifth, deep to right field off Marlins reliever A.J. Puk. The blast turned a one-run game into a comfortable 6-2 advantage and proved to be the decisive blow.

Atlanta’s third homer came earlier from Austin Riley, who tied the game 3-3 with a solo shot to left-center in the sixth inning, just after Elder had departed.

Miami, held to just four hits through the first seven innings, mounted a late rally in the eighth. Otto Lopez singled and catcher Liam Hicks followed with a two-run homer to right, his fourth of the season, cutting the deficit to 6-4. Connor Norby then singled, and after a walk, the Marlins pushed across another run on a fielding error by Dubón at shortstop. The error made it 6-5 and brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate with only one out.

Braves manager Brian Snitker then turned to his bullpen stalwarts. Robert Suarez entered and needed just two pitches to induce an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play from Graham Pauley, snuffing out the Marlins’ threat and preserving the lead.

Raisel Iglesias worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out three batters around a two-out single, to secure his fourth save of the season. The Atlanta bullpen, featuring scoreless outings from Suarez, Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley following Elder, combined for 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

The Marlins finished with eight hits, with Lopez collecting three of them. Hicks drove in two of Miami’s three runs. The Braves accumulated 11 hits, with seven of their nine starters recording at least one.

The game-time temperature was 71 degrees under clear skies, and the contest was played in a brisk 2 hours, 36 minutes before an announced crowd of 28,884.

With the series concluded, the Braves will embark on a seven-game road trip, beginning a three-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. The Marlins return home to Miami to open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, also on Friday.